October 15, 2009

At some point during Fashion Week in New York, an interviewer asked me "Why are blogs better than magazines?" I think I said something polite, but pulled a tiny face first- what?!

I'm tired of the blogs vs. magazines debate because they are good for different things and each one has a different goal. There are some blogs I would read over some magazines, of course, and some magazines I would read over some blogs. Obviously blogs are less mainstream and can be more honest because they are less dependent on advertisers. But magazines need advertisers to survive, and the labels they advertise need them. Even though most magazines act really happy about everything, as long as I know to still make my own opinions it isn't a big deal. A lot of them do lack in actual opinion, but that's where some blogs are good. And then blogs lack in the ability to take you to another world, and that's where magazines are good. But this isn't always the case, and not all magazines lack in things blogs have, and not all blogs lack in things magazines have...you can go around in circles forever. It just comes down to the fact that all magazines and blogs are different and you can't compare the two mediums.

I used to have the idea that magazines - just magazines in general - are evil and focused on trends and skinny people, but it is so not true. A magazine is like a public journal with entries written every month, or every other month, or 4 times or twice or once a year. Yeah, some are super lame and bland and really do only like rail-thin people, but not all of them. And when you find those that are more like art books or just simple celebrations of fashion, like the ones below, you become an addict like me. COME TO THE DARK SIDE. WE HAVE CUTOUTS OF LARA STONE AND FANGIRL TIM WALKER.

I treat most of my magazines like bibles. These here are the ones I don't cut out of and that will follow me to college and onward. From left: W, V, Interview, Flaunt, AnOther, 2 Pops, The Journal, Love, 10, another Pop, i-D, 3 Dazed & Confused's, 2 British Vogues, 2 Russh's, 2 Lulas, Vogue Italia, Harper's Bazaar, T, and New York Magazine. Since I took this picture in late September, another i-D, another Vogue Italia, another Harper's Bazaar and a Vanity Fair have been added to the shelf. At night I like to hug them and smell their paper and be creepy.When I really like scans I see on fashion community sites, I go out and buy the magazine because I want to own it! Call me picky but just scans don't do it for me, and since I take no interest in buying video games or pools or whatever other kids my age buy, I don't mind spending $15 on a magazine as long as it's worth it (Lula, AnOther, and Vogue Italia are special!) There is nothing like that one editorial I was obsessed with for 3 months that I go back to a year later and then am instantly reminded of that time in fashion and in my personal style. Or owning that one issue of Dazed I knew I had to have because they had a feature on Grace Coddington, or the May 2008 issue of British Vogue because those Venetia Scott and Patrick Demarchelier editorials were REVELATIONS! On a more geeky level, I love the smell and texture of magazine paper, and even though they cost money, they're not instant, whatever; you can't compare them to blogs because, for the billionth time, each one is different!

So yeah, it's annoying to me that blogs like mine are supposed to be the Big Bad Anti-Magazines, but this is supposed to be more in defense of magazines than blogs that are supposed to be giving editors "a run for their money!" Not that I'm trying to find a ~cause~ to ~fight for~ or whatever and decided this is a terrible world issue, but unfortunately fashion is an art form that is so dependent on its customers in order to survive. W's number of pages went down 53% this September. And hey, remember that really epic fashion story in the August issue of The Face? OH WAIT NO IT'S DEAD. Yeah, let's not let that happen to any of mah bbs up there. The new September issue of Russh (even though I was stupid and left it in a hotel) is freakishly amazing. And Bazaar's Runway Report is so clean and neat and pretty. You can sure count on me to be counting my quarters at the counter of Barnes & Noble every few weeks. See ya there? Remember: Tim Walker fangirling.

love russh. and oyster. and yen. and so many others. ahh magazines will never die out, reading people's opinions on the internet and holding a glossy mag just can't be compared that closely - and that doesn't mean one is better than the other.

i'm right there with you! scraping change out of couch cushions and taking it out of my fancy morning coffee fund to buy the latest issue of whatever. only we dont have barnes and noble in montreal, we have chapters. same thang.

my magazine collection is quite a bit smaller than yours but i agree with what you said...you can't really get the same feeling of flipping through a magazine online. I always have to run out and buy the new Lula when it comes out, it's my one indulgence.

Blogs are a lot more honest. The words are coming from a deeper love or affliction for what they're blogging about. Zines are a lot less subjective, they need to relate to a greater demographic, or at least that's the aim. Bloggers could care less whether you like them or not..plus, you can't replace some zines editorials. they're so precious!oh another note, just read about you in the new POP autnm/winter issue. every photo was fab and i really admire your eye for angrogyny(the cover where you're wearing the shorts and collard shirt) you really know how to put the finger on the pulse!

Hi，Tavi! I'm a student studying graphic design. Now I'm working on a project about fashion! I think you're the right person. If you have time, could you please help me? Just send me some original photos about fashion. Models, clothes, your photos, all good! Many thanks for that~! If you can't, it's ok. Thank you all the same~! You're awesome， I love what you have done~! My E-mail: lei.wenjing66@gmail

Not to mention that many blogs rely on magazines for editorials. Blogs put a lot of pressure on magazines to improve, but that's a good thing! The relationship is symbiotic. It must be annoying to have people appropriate their opinions on you based on what they think you represent.

The nice thing about blogs is they don't have the constraints that magazines have. A person can write about whatever they want, be as creative as they want.

Magazines, at least the big ones, have more pull though and usually money. They can hire the top people, get celebrities and designers who want publicity.

So both have their positives. It's too bad there are people that want to turn it into a conflict. Really with most blogs there is no competition with magazines. My only hope is that good innovative blogs like yours and some others get the recognition that magazines do.

I think it's always important that we support good writing and great art, no matter what form it is in.

blukats, you are saying exactly what I meant only in like 10 paragraphs less haha.

sunday girl-glad you liked Pop, thank you so much! I don't think blogs in general have a deeper love or affliction for fashion than editors or fashion journalists-I mean, it's different for all of them, which is just another reason why they can't be compared as wholes.

you are very right, it's very hard to compare magazines and blogs because they are very different animals

on the one hand magazines, like you said, offer a fantasy that most blogs cannot achieve, and for me, i do the completely same thing and buy a magazine for a single editorial, or article, and find that i love the other pieces in the magazine as well, like the latest issue of Pop (yes the one w/you on the cover) I bought it for the article on you (....i feel creepy saying that...), but fell in love with it because it offered an article on Margaret Thatcher, and an interview with Ellen Johnson-Sirlef administered by Barbara Bush, alongside a sick editorial of a blue girl with grey hair.

while a blog, allows complete and uncensored feeling that makes for a very personal piece of writing. and it also allows for conversations...because half the fun of fashion, is discussing, and arguing (at least i like that part)

been reading your blog for a while now, and just created my own! love your style. you have a new follower!

... in regards to magazines + blogs - i get most of my up to date fashion news from blogs or style websites but they will [in my opinion] never replace the sentimental feeling you get when you anticipate the arrival of a magazine :)

I had JUST posted an entry on these two Japanese fashion magazines that I like. XD!!

Hehe, at least you're not like anti-magazine... I like magazines but they're kind of expensive. Still--I don't really read a lot of blogs to choose them over magazines. I didn't even know of this Blog vs. Magazine debate! I must be out of the loop....but I don't mind.

I'm usually always out of the loop.....-Blank stare-

Okay. :D I probably creeped you out in the other blog..about you being in a dream of mine. It was WEIRD..and I'm sorry. ;_;

I think blogs allow us to share our opinions with people all around the world. That's the advantage. But I couldn't do without magazines ^^ They're written by professional contrary to blogs (in general).

To me magazine is as relevant as a blog. Every trend follower wants to know what’s in style for the coming season, and they will browse on blogs or magazines that provide a variety of styles. It depends whether we prefer to get focused information in a magazine that presented us with a set number of styles and trends Or to get online and expose to an infinite number of styles.

Well for certain people, magazines are more private to browse to than to search on the blog and worry if someone will walk in or stumble upon an awkward Google search history about bikinis.;)

I just found your blog and I've read a bit. I'm very impressed. As a designer myself, I encourage you to learn to sew. You will LOVE being able to make whatever strikes your fancy, even those little disk hats, which are quite simple, not to mention being able to create from something way too big or small, for that matter. I just gave a vintage top to the friend of mine whose blog I found your link on. I'm going to encourage her to send it to you.

You would have loved The Face magazine, as i'm pure you've probably seen past copies at some point? now THOSE are to be treasured. Also, where do you stand on zines? I mean, what is your opinion, not where do you go to trample on them

I totally agree we need both - I am very much attached to paper versions of things, I mean you cant read a blog in bed or on the bus, or use it to hide behind when strangers start talking ot you! My two favourite issues are a UK Elle which Karl Largerfeld guest edited a couple of years ago, and March French Vogue which the whole issue was dedicated to Chanel x

You get different things out of magazines and blogs - they're not really that comparable I think. Your absolutely right about being instant - magazines are definitely not. There are such great magazines out there and it's always so exciting to buy a copy and flick through the unknown. Lula and British Vogue are always wonderful.

cool, i was pretty sure you would anyway, i'm going to be producing one mainly filled with illustrations of my favourite things from the latest seasons or just in general, i shall most definitely send you one

Interesting topic today, I was with an older friend from Milan, a fashion PR guru from the days of Armani & Versace, Studio 54, and Marisa Berenson as a muse. I was enlightening him about social media, blogs and the dying magazine - how does this affect the "traditionalists" who still rely on magazines. When I discovered your blog, it took me back to my 13th year. I think W had just evolved into magazine format (from folded paper), and I counted the days until the next one showed up. Locked in my room, I would study the magazine, a devoted follower, embracing the latest gospel in the world offashion. I am now 30. I haven't lived at home since i was 17, and my parents keep asking me to throw away my magazine. No way. When I visit my parents, and I open the closet to stacks and stacks of gorgeous extra large magazines, I smile.

As a writer for both mags and online-- I have to agree with your balanced POV. I wish I had time to read them all. Love all your choices! One backlash to the whole blogs versus magazine debate might be that people will start doing those underground zines again. Like when Paper was on paper.

Tavi, thank you for writing this post. After hearing Anna Wintour left Paris early to discuss how she was going to keep the magazine alive, it's refreshing to hear someone address the issue from a blog-writing standpoint and stress how important magazines still are. I haven't heard of some of the mags you have, so you just made my next trip to B&N that much more exciting! So thanks!

tavi,first of all, your blog is amazing, and you are amazing.second of all, i totally agree with every nerdy and creepy statement that you claimed you made in this post about magazines.and third, im logging off to head to barnes and noble right nowxx

Its said to see the Magazine industry slowly going bye bye. I really would like this not to happen. Just like you, I don't like scans. I want to hold the real thing. Blogs and Magazines are very different.

I too find it impossible to cut out certain magazines. It's not an issue of money but preservation. I want to be pristine because I treasure the images so much.Blogs and magazines will never be in actual competitions as they feed different needs so the press needs a new topic to blow out of proportion :)

Hey! Maybe I'm not the first telling you this but a dutch paper did an article of you (and about bloggers vs. fashion journalists). There's a nice coloured photo with it and they are very positive! If you want I can photograph it or even send it to you (+ translation ofc). :]

Blogs can share opinions that magazines could never because it's about ad sales and revenue and pleasing the clients. What's amazing about our freedom of speech is that [usually] Gucci doesn't have an ad on our page and if we say we don't like something, they won't pull it in the next month. I think people forget the massive business that the magazine industry is and how there are hundreds to staff and why it's sometimes boring and kiss ass. They have no choice, they must sell and appeal to all levels across the board.

I used to collect magazines and I still get them monthly but I honestly haven't touched a single one in about 4 months and they're all just laying around my apartment. I think it's because I get my news faster from the internet/wwd and by the time it shows up squished in my mailbox I've lost all interest and am onto the next thing.

Blogs are sometimes more real (if that makes sense) than magazines. It's interesting to see what the bloggers can do with clothes that are actually affordable and attainable, not ~*omg $200 what a steal*~ like some of the magazines think. Good post!

good points! but i don't think the whole blog vs magazine debate is wrong I think its quite debatable. There not two different mediums because both are under WHAT PEOPLE READ. Though the point you expressed about having different assets were right. There are some things I look for in a blog that i dont look for in a magazine and vice versa!

I think mags win over blogs. anyone can write a blog, you being prime example. For fashion magazines (the real ones, none of that NYLON or COSMOgirl crap), there is an etiquette, a certain precise way to profess & convey, a 'brand image' they must up hold. In blogs, its raw, dirty, and mostly childish. No sensible writing, no mature demure, just trash talking and opinionated banter.Maybe because these editors and writers actually went to school for journalism/fashion.

softbonesbabyy-There is a very snarky, cynical tone that is common for blogs, but, once again, not all blogs are the same, and can't all be categorized under a Perez Hilton voice. That there is "just trash talking and opinionated banter" is a big statement to make (especially when you yourself write a blog?) and On The Runway and Style Bubble are prime examples of sensible blog writing. Going to school for fashion isn't essential (Vivienne Westwood, Rei Kawakubo and Rodarte, to name a few.) I wasn't trying to say with this post that blogs and magazines are equal, but just that it's a strange comparison to try and make.

wow! u r soo awesome! and ur wat, only 13?? u really inspire me! u should get your own website..... u really should keep up with the pics....u r gonna be a fashion gal in the years to come! i can feel it! ur views on fashion really suprises me cuz ive never given it much thought! I will totally remember name! "Remember ur name FAME im gonna live forever light up the sky like a flame!" have u sen FAME? its a cool movie srry i am soo random sometimes. n e way, keep up the good work!!!!!!

I'm so glad you posted this. I agree 100%. How can people compare blogs and magazines? Magazines take people and people and people and time and money to produce, and you can keep them and cherish the really beautiful ones forever. Blogs are great for instant coverage and real, unpaid opinions. But it isn't fair to say which one is "better."

I bought POP with you on the cover, and it could be the best magazine I've ever bought. It's in competition with any issues of Lula I have, for sure.

Great job, and I really see you doing big (or should I say, bigger) things in the future. Keep up the amazing work - it's great watching you grow and your writing is just awesome.

Great post, Tavi. You write so eloquently and put some of my sentiments into words in the best way. I read several fashion blogs (including this one!) regularly, as well as several magazines. Like you, I have some magazines that will be immortalized on my shelf forever and that I would NEVER take a pair of scissors to. I completely agree with you that each have their place.

God yeah! What the hell is this fusion between blogs and magazines? Can't they all live in happy blog/magazine world together? Totally digging ur vibe. Keep on a-keeping on. www.floz-fashionista.blogspot.com

true that! when i curl up with my monthly issue of w, i feel like i've stepped into a world that would otherwise be beyond reach. all on my lonesome. its refreshing to see a blogger who appreciates both media.

Ah how I agree with you. Magazines and blogs are not mutually exclusive.Blogs and the internet are good for looking at the designers and labels to like long before magazines cover a certain collection, and also tend to be better at covering lesser known designers in general. More wit is also shown :) It's just more personal and there are several blogs I just always enjoy reading because of the style of writing.

I love how much knowledge some bloggers have, say of editorials, which I don't. But editorial scans just aren't the same as the actual pages, and I do go out and look for the original. Ones like Lula are especially nice to have in hand.I'm such a magazine hoarder too, it pains me to through beautiful spreads away- which is why there are several mountains of them in my room. (this does not please my mum!)A mixture of both works very well indeed.

your zines are really creative and inspiring! do you just use an ordinary notebook because i notice there are blank printer paper sheets and lined paper...which is the perfect drawing notebook for me...if you got it from a store, that is.thanks...